Gina Kay Landis

If agents understood startup costs (and that they don’t get paid, really, until something closes – never mind companies that draw agents in with pre-closing commission loans), then perhaps people wouldn’t jump in so quickly to the Realtor or real estate agent pool (remember not all agents are Realtors).

To work full-time takes massive commitment and a heck of a lot of work. Those who don’t have a diversified income stream often have a supporting spouse or full time job that may be flexible enough for them to carry a small number of listings, where they may only represent the seller, not buyers. Buyers take a lot more time than sellers because of previewing houses and checking out which home may suit them based on their criteria. While listings take time to advertise and to discuss with the seller, the time spent simply isn’t the same as with buyers.

I’ve heard the argument many times that real estate sales should be along the lines of physician training (disagree), dentist training (disagree), accountant training (possibly on the CPA level) and/or lawyer training (possibly). However – can someone sell property without substantial training? Yes, if the transaction is simple enough to warrant only training done via the state requirements and whatever minimal training is done by the brokerage.

If there were scholarships available for further training, we may have a completely different economic class of folks getting into the game. If people budget wisely and don’t enter the business prior to being well-funded for the business, then we’d also have a completely different economic class of folks coming into the business.

I would say as well that the current climate could be different than 5 years ago based on the different issues facing a sale coming to closing. With short sales and foreclosures being 50% of my area’s local sales, and the time it takes to market, many were not aware of the variables inherent in such sales, with their income dipping substantially due to lower commission with short sales and with the time it takes to close them. If not prepared with knowledge about such sales, people may find themselves earning up to 50% less than years prior. Is it any wonder then that people turn to supplemental income? However if agents put an additional 4 – 5 hours a day doing targeted marketing, they may well make as much per month as they make at a full time job. Remember also though, full time work often includes benefits that are a bit difficult to give up for a Realtor’s family. Balancing act? Certainly. But much more needs to change within the economy and outside of the specific educational requirements people are advocating for agents to make a good living selling real estate and taking care of many, many clients. It’s easy for someone who doesn’t work in the field to make statements about raising the bar… let’s put people back to work IN the field and see how things shape up, eh?